From underdogs to world champions, all in less than a year.
Champions Seoul saw China’s EDward Gaming get crowned as the fourth Valorant world champions, a moment that’s more significant than you may think. After an epic clash with EMEA’s Team Heretics that went all five games, EDG shattered expectations by taking the championship. This marks China’s first major Valorant tournament victory but it’s much bigger than that.
Of the big four Valorant regions, China is the youngest which also makes people perceive them as the weakest. The region was only established this year and many fans see Chinese teams as not good enough to play internationally. Every team save for EDG.
In previous tournaments, only one Chinese team was able to attend and that’s after they prove themselves in a qualifier. That team was always EDG and while their results were shaky, they showed gradual improvement in every tournament. They were always the underdogs, the team people root for but silently believe they won’t make it.
Now, with EDward Gaming’s victory in Champions Seoul, no one can deny their prowess. Not only did they prove that China can topple the best in the world, they’re also the first organization to win a championship in two different Riot games with the other being their 2021 League of Legends World Championship run.
Special mention goes to Zheng “ZmjjKK” Yongkang for being the grand finals MVP and breaking the record for most kills in a single VCT international series at 111. His outstanding performance is helping break the stigma that Asians can’t play FPS games very well.
A Level Playing Field
EDG’s triumph also shows just how wide the level of skill is in pro Valorant. We’ve had four different teams as world champions and each from different nationalities. While yes, in terms of regions the Americas have two world champions we still have Europe, Brazil, North America, and now China raising a champions trophy.
This is unprecedented for esports as usually every game is dominated by one or two countries. In League of Legends it’s South Korea, the Japanese sit at the top of most fighting games, and of course the Philippines is the best MLBB region in the world. The fact that any region or country has a chance to take a major Valorant tournament is incredibly exciting. Will a new team rise next year? Which one of them will be the first to establish a dynasty? We’ll have to wait and see what the future has in store.
Banner photo by Colin Young-Wolff/Riot Games.